OU-Chillicothe cancels rest of 2014 baseball season

CHILLICOTHE – After seeing its baseball roster dwindle from 16 players to nine, Ohio University-Chillicothe has canceled the remainder of the season.

In a statement released by the university in response to a Gazette inquiry, OU-C stated seven players have decided to leave the Hilltoppers’ baseball team.

“As a result, we will discontinue the 2014 baseball season since it is difficult to field a competitive team and offer the players a meaningful athletic experience,” the statement said.

One injury would make it impossible to field a team. Much of OU-C’s remaining schedule involves doubleheader and a nine-player roster is not conducive to setting up a pitching rotation capable of handling so many games played close together.

The Gazette contacted the school about concerns voiced by a caller that several games had been canceled by the coaching staff and there had been other instances in which games supposedly had been scheduled, then reportedly canceled by the other team. However, the other school was unaware OU-C was supposed to be on the schedule. Other concerns also have been brought to the attention of the university.

“We are aware of (the) allegations and are investigating them,” athletic director Kim McKimmy said. “The dean of the campus has also been involved in these conversations. At this point, we feel the allegations are largely hearsay and are not supported by evidence. We also feel the incidents (the caller to the Gazette) reports may have been exaggerated.

“We plan to continue the investigation and take the appropriate action regarding the future of the OU-C baseball team.”

The school did not go into any detail about the allegations it is investigating.

The Hilltoppers — under second-year head coach Zac Alexander — had a 2-10 record as of March 25, the last day a result is posted on their schedule on their website. They had been scheduled to play through at least the first weekend in May in the early rounds of the Ohio Regional Campus Conference tournament.